25 March 2012 9:10 PM

Advance warning of heart attacks

Californian researchers say that they are close to 'the holy grail' of heart medicine. They have devised an inexpensive test to give up to three weeks advance warning of a heart attack.

When a crack occurs in the wall of a coronary artery, as it can do, for example, from the effects of high blood pressure or cigarette smoking, lining cells are released into the blood stream. These cells will be detectable in a blood sample before a blood clot forms in the artery.

The test is a long way from being perfected. It needs to be able to differentiate cells being released through any other cause. Also it needs to discern whether they were there already.

Even so, it is exciting to consider the prospect of using a simple test to enable preventive action to be taken.

I can foresee two pitfalls. There are some anxious patients who might want to have the test every three weeks for the rest of their lives. The researchers hope to counter that fear by developing implantable chips that enable constant monitoring in appropriate patients with high risk of heart attacks. That will help patients who have clear clinical risk but it might increase cardiac neurosis in those who do not.

My other concern is that people will become increasingly absorbed with physical aspects of health so that they overlook everything else. There is a lot more to health and happiness than merely the absence of disease. Life should be fun.

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DR ROBERT LEFEVER

Dr Robert Lefever established the very first addiction treatment centre in the UK that offered rehabilitation to eating disorder patients, as well as to those with alcohol or drug problems. He was also the first to treat compulsive gambling, nicotine addiction and workaholism.
He identified 'Compulsive Helping', when people do too much for others and too little for themselves, as an addictive behaviour and he pioneered its treatment.
He has worked with over 5,000 addicts and their families in the last 25 years and, until recently, ran a busy private medical practice in South Kensington.
He has written twenty six books on various aspects of depressive illness and addictive behaviour.
He now provides intensive private one-to-one care for individuals and their families.

He has written twenty six books on various aspects of depressive illness and addictive behaviour.

He now uses his considerable experience to provide intensive private one-to-one care for individuals and their families.